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Indians’ Season Ends in 1st Round Playoff Loss at Cedar Rapids Xavier

By Sam Parsons

A difficult season for Oskaloosa Indians volleyball came to a close on Tuesday night in a first round postseason loss at Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Oskaloosa entered the postseason with a 4-25 record and 11 straight losses, while Xavier’s record stood at 13-15. Though it was the worst regular season record for Xavier in a decade, they were one of only three teams in the state to defeat #1 Clear Creek Amana this season.

The Saints controlled the match from the outset and dominated each set. The opening set saw Xavier jump out to an early 8-1 lead and cruise to a 25-14 victory. In the second set, they started on a 9-0 run to quickly put Oskaloosa in the rear view mirror, ultimately taking the set 25-10; and in the third set, after taking an early 10-4 advantage, Xavier scored 12 straight points to go up 22-4 and swiftly ended the match with a 25-7 set victory.

The 2025 season ends with Oskaloosa recording their lowest single-season win total since 2013. The team is not graduating any seniors; in 2026, the squad will be returning a far more experienced group with the hopes of taking a step forward.

Finding the jewels and the brazen thieves in the Louvre heist is now a race against time

PARIS (AP) — The glittering sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds that once adorned France’s royals could well be gone forever, experts say after a brazen, four-minute heist in broad daylight left the nation stunned and the government struggling to explain a new debacle at the Louvre.

Each stolen piece — an emerald necklace and earrings, two crowns, two brooches, a sapphire necklace and a single earring — represents the pinnacle of 19th century “haute joaillerie,” or fine jewelry. For the royals, they were more than decoration. The pieces were political statements of France’s wealth, power and cultural import. They are so significant that they were among treasures saved from the government’s 1887 auction of most royal jewels.

The Louvre reopened Wednesday for the first time since the heist Sunday morning, although the Apollo Gallery where the theft occurred remained closed.

Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor whose office is leading the investigation, said Tuesday that in monetary terms, the stolen jewelry is worth an estimated $102 million (88 million euros) — a valuation that doesn’t include historical worth. About 100 investigators are involved in the police hunt for the suspects and the gems, she said.

The theft of the crown jewels left the French government scrambling — again — to explain the latest embarrassment at the Louvre, which is plagued by overcrowding and outdated facilities. Activists in 2024 threw a can of soup at the Mona Lisa. And in June, the museum was brought to a halt by its own striking staff, who complained about mass tourism. President Emmanuel Macron has announced that the Mona Lisa, stolen by a former museum worker in 1911 and recovered two years later, will get its own room under a major renovation.

Now the sparkling jewels, artifacts of a French culture of long ago, are likely being secretly dismantled and sold off in a rush as individual pieces that may or may not be identifiable as part of the French crown jewels, experts say.

“It’s extremely unlikely these jewels will ever be retrieved and seen again,” said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, a major European diamond jeweler, said in a statement. “If these gems are broken up and sold off, they will, in effect, vanish from history and be lost to the world forever.”

Crown jewels are symbols of heritage and national pride

At once intimate and public, crown jewels are kept secured from the Tower of London to Tokyo’s Imperial Palace as visual symbols of national identities.

The four suspected robbers split into two pairs, with two people aboard a truck equipped with a cherry picker they used to climb up to the Galerie d’Apollon and two others piloting motorbikes used in the gang’s getaway, authorities said.

Taken, officials said, were eight pieces, part of a collection whose origin as crown jewels date back to the 16th century when King Francis I decreed that they belonged to the state. The Paris prosecutor’s office said that two men with bright yellow jackets broke into the gallery at 9:34 a.m. — half an hour past opening time — and left the room at 9:38 a.m. before fleeing on two motorbikes.

The missing pieces include two crowns, or diadems. One, given by Emperor Napoleon III to the Empress Eugenie in 1853 to celebrate their wedding, holds more than 200 pearls and nearly 2,000 diamonds. The second is a starry sapphire-and-diamond headpiece — and also a necklace and single earring— worn by, among others, Queen Marie-Amelie, French authorities said.

Also stolen: a necklace of dozens of emeralds and more than 1,000 diamonds that was a wedding gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife, Marie-Louise of Austria, in 1810. The matching earrings also were stolen. The thieves also made off with a reliquary brooch and a large bodice bow worn by Empress Eugenie — both pieces diamond-encrusted, French officials said.

The robbers dropped or abandoned a hefty ninth piece, which was damaged: a crown adorned with gold eagles, 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, worn by Empress Eugenie.

Left untouched were other items in the crown jewel collection, which before the heist included 23 jewels, according to the Louvre. Remaining, for example, is the plum-sized Regent, a white diamond said to be the largest of its kind in Europe.

Now it’s a race against time

Beyond the monetary value of the stolen jewels, the emotional loss is keenly felt. Many have described France’s failure to secure its most precious items as a wounding blow to national pride.

“These are family souvenirs that have been taken from the French,” conservative lawmaker Maxime Michelet said Tuesday in Parliament, quizzing the government about security at the Louvre and other cultural sites.

“Empress Eugenie’s crown — stolen, then dropped and found broken in the gutter, has become the symbol of the decline of a nation that used to be so admired,” Michelet said. “It is shameful for our country, incapable of guaranteeing the security of the world’s largest museum.”

The theft was not the first Louvre heist in recent years. But it stood out for its forethought, speed and almost cinematic quality as one of the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory. In fact, it echoed the fictional theft from the Louvre of a royal crown by a “gentleman thief” in the French television show “Lupin” — which in turn is based on a 1905 series of stories.

The romance of such a theft is mostly a creation of showbiz, according to one theft investigator. Christopher A. Marinello, a lawyer with Art Recovery International, said he’s never seen a “theft-to-order” by some shadowy secret collector.

“These criminals are just looking to steal whatever they can,” Marinello said. “They chose this room because it was close to a window. They chose these jewels because they figured that they could break them apart, take out the settings, take out the diamonds and the sapphires and the emeralds” overseas to “a dodgy dealer that’s willing to recut them and no one would ever know what they did.”

What happens now is a race against time both for the French authorities hunting the thieves and for the perpetrators themselves, who will have a hard time finding buyers for the pieces in all their royal glory.

“Nobody will touch these objects. They are too famous. It’s too hot. If you get caught you will end up in prison,” said Dutch art sleuth Arthur Brand. “You cannot sell them, you cannot leave them to your children.”

Deer movements increase as peak of breeding season nears

DES MOINES — Drivers take note, it’s mid-October and deer are on the move.

While deer vehicle collisions occur throughout the year, deer movement increases during the breeding season, peaking around the first week of November. Combined with the crops coming out and shorter daylight hours, that adds up to more deer vehicle collisions.

“Deer like to travel at dawn and dusk, and with the shortening daylight hours, that puts a lot of commuters on the road when deer could be on the move,” said Jim Coffey, forest wildlife research biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “As we enter the prime breeding time, deer move more all hours of the day. This time of year, we encourage drivers to reduce their speeds, give additional space between vehicles, which will give drivers more time to react, and slow down in order to avoid a crash.”

Deer tend to travel in groups during the rut, Coffey said, and drivers should try to avoid focusing in on the first deer they see because there may be another one coming behind it.

“Drivers who encounter a deer on the road, and a collision is inevitable, are encouraged to stay in their lane, break and try to control the impact,” he said. “While hitting a deer can be a tragic event, much more harm may occur by swerving to avoid the collision than by simply hitting the deer.”

Iowa’s deer population isn’t distributed equally across the state, but more often associated with timber habitat and river corridors. When passing through these areas, drivers should be aware of the surroundings, slow their speed and watch from fencerow to fencerow for deer on the move.

State law allows people who hit a deer to take the meat under a salvage tag. Contact the local sheriff’s office to get a tag. The caveat is the whole animal must be taken – it is illegal to just take the antlers.

Cover Crop and Water Quality Field Day to be held near Oskaloosa November 4

AMES, Iowa—Iowa Learning Farms will host a cover crop and water quality field day near Oskaloosa on Tuesday, November 4 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Drost Farms. The no-cost event is open to farmers and landowners and includes a complimentary meal.

This field day aims to equip attendees with best management practices for establishing and managing cover crops. Cover crops offer many benefits to farmers and landowners, including reduced soil erosion, weed suppression potential, reduced nitrogen and phosphorus loads entering water bodies, and increased organic matter in the soil.

Jackson and Amanda Drost are multi-generation farmers located in Mahaska County. While renting his first acres in 2002, Jackson has been involved on the farm as early as he can remember, noting that his dad would take him and the diaper bag with him to do field work and chores. Jackson is now passing down that love of farming to their sons, Richard and Andy, who have started their own popcorn business supplying the local Little League and selling to neighbors, friends, and family.

The Drosts raise corn, soybeans, and alfalfa along with an Angus cow-calf herd. Starting around 2010, the Drosts flew on their first acres of rye cover crop to graze with their cow-calf herd. Those initial acres have increased in recent years, and while using primarily rye and oats, they have begun incorporating other species like turnips and camelina. Additionally, they utilize buffer strips, contour farming, sediment basins, terraces, waterways, and are in the process of implementing a saturated buffer through EQIP.

In addition to the Drosts, the field day will feature Mark Licht, ISU Extension cropping systems specialist, sharing best management practices for cover crops during the field tour of nearby cover crops, weather permitting. The Iowa Learning Farms will present their Conservation Station On The Edge trailer and Liz Ripley, Iowa Learning Farms conservation and cover crop outreach specialist, will discuss a smart agricultural drainage project led by ISU researchers. Ryan Wolf with Iowa Missouri Seed, LLC will also be on hand to address cover crop questions.

The field day will be held at the Drost Farms located at 2215 212th St, Oskaloosa, IA 52577. The no-cost event and open to farmers and landowners, though we require reservations to ensure adequate space and food. For reasonable accommodations and to RSVP, please contact Liz Ripley at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu by October 28.  Attendees will be entered in a drawing for ISU Prairie Strips honey.

Charges Filed Against EBF High School Student for Assault Incident

EDDYVILLE – The student at Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont High School who was accused of assault earlier this month is now facing criminal charges.

The incident took place on October 7, when authorities in Wapello County were notified of a male student allegedly assaulting other students at approximately 1:35pm. The Wapello County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation, which revealed that the student was also accused of breaking a classroom window and discharging a fire extinguisher. Multiple people were sent to the hospital as a result of the incident.

Following the investigation, deputies issued arrest warrants for 18-year-old Korbin Daniel Durbin of Fremont, and Durbin was arrested on October 17, when he turned himself in to the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office. He has since posted bond and has been released from custody, though he faces a total of 5 criminal charges, including 2 counts of simple assault, 4th degree criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, and 3rd degree harassment.

The Wapello County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in their investigation by EBF school officials and the Wapello County Attorney’s Office.

Ottumwa Superintendent Announces Retirement

OTTUMWA – The superintendent of the Ottumwa Community School District has officially announced his retirement.

In a decision that was made public yesterday, superintendent Mike McGrory announced his intention to retire from the district at the end of this school year. The district published McGrory’s announcement letter to its Facebook page.

In his letter, he wrote that stepping down “was not an easy decision,” adding that serving as Ottumwa’s superintendent “has genuinely been one of the greatest honors and most rewarding experiences of my professional career.”

McGrory has been with the Ottumwa school district since the 2021-22 school year. His full retirement letter can be viewed here.

Massive Amazon cloud outage has been resolved after disrupting internet use worldwide

LONDON (AP) — Amazon says a massive outage of its cloud computing service has been resolved as of Monday evening, after a problem disrupted internet use around the world, taking down a broad range of online services, including social media, gaming, food delivery, streaming and financial platforms.

The all-day disruption and the ensuing exasperation it caused served as the latest reminder that 21st century society is increasingly dependent on just a handful of companies for much of its internet technology, which seems to work reliably until it suddenly breaks down.

About three hours after the outage began early Monday morning, Amazon Web Services said it was starting to recover, but it wasn’t until 6 p.m. Eastern that “services returned to normal operations,” Amazon said on its AWS health website, where it tracks outages.

AWS provides behind-the-scenes cloud computing infrastructure to some of the world’s biggest organizations. Its customers include government departments, universities and businesses, including The Associated Press.

Cybersecurity expert Mike Chapple said “a slow and bumpy recovery process” is “entirely normal.”

As engineers roll out fixes across the cloud computing infrastructure, the process could trigger smaller disruptions, he said.

“It’s similar to what happens after a large-scale power outage: While a city’s power is coming back online, neighborhoods may see intermittent glitches as crews finish the repairs,” said Chapple, an information technology professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

Amazon blames domain name system

Amazon pinned the outage on issues related to its domain name system that converts web addresses into IP addresses, which are numeric designations that identify locations on the internet. Those addresses allow websites and apps to load on internet-connected devices.

DownDetector, a website that tracks online outages, said in a Facebook post that it received over 11 million user reports of problems at more than 2,500 companies. Users reported trouble with the social media site Snapchat, the Roblox and Fortnite video games, the online broker Robinhood and the McDonald’s app, as well as Netflix, Disney+ and many other services.

The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and the Signal chat app both said on X that they were experiencing trouble related to the outage.

Amazon’s own services were also affected. Users of the company’s Ring doorbell cameras and Alexa-powered smart speakers reported that they were not working, while others said they were unable to access the Amazon website or download books to their Kindle.

Many college and K-12 students were unable to submit or access their homework or course materials Monday because the AWS outage knocked out Canvas, a widely used educational platform.

“I currently can’t grade any online assignments, and my students can’t access their online materials” because of the outage’s effect on learning-management systems, said Damien P. Williams, a professor of philosophy and data science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

The exact number of schools impacted was not immediately known, but Canvas says on its website it is used by 50% of college and university students in North America, including all Ivy League schools in the U.S.

At the University of California, Riverside, students couldn’t submit assignments, take quizzes or access course materials, and online instruction was limited, the campus said.

Ohio State University informed its 70,000 students at all six campuses by email Monday morning that online course materials might be inaccessible due to the outage and that “students should connect with their instructors for any alternative plans.” As of 7:10 p.m. Eastern, access was restored, the university told students.

Record of past outages

This is not the first time issues with Amazon cloud services have caused widespread disruptions.

Many popular internet services were affected by a brief outage in 2023. AWS’s longest outage in recent history occurred in late 2021, when a wide range of companies — from airlines and auto dealerships to payment apps and video streaming services — were affected for more than five hours. Outages also happened in 2020 and 2017.

The first signs of trouble emerged at around 3:11 a.m. Eastern time, when AWS reported on its “health dashboard” that it was “investigating increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS services in the US-EAST-1 Region.” Later, the company reported that there were “significant error rates” and that engineers were “actively working” on the problem.

Around 6 a.m. Eastern time, the company reported seeing recovery across most of the affected services and said it was seeking a “full resolution.” As of midday, AWS was still working to resolve the trouble.

Sixty-four internal AWS services were affected, the company said.

Just a few companies provide most internet infrastructure

Because much of the world now relies on three or four companies to provide the underlying infrastructure of the internet, “when there’s an issue like this, it can be really impactful” across many online services, said Patrick Burgess, a cybersecurity expert at U.K.-based BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

“The world now runs on the cloud,” Burgess said.

And because so much of the online world’s plumbing is underpinned by so few companies, when something goes wrong, “it’s very difficult for users to pinpoint what is happening because we don’t see Amazon, we just see Snapchat or Roblox,” Burgess said.

“The good news is that this kind of issue is usually relatively fast” to resolve, and there’s no indication that it was caused by a cyberattack, Burgess said.

“This looks like a good old-fashioned technology issue. Something’s gone wrong, and it will be fixed by Amazon,” he said.

There are “well-established processes” to deal with outages at AWS, as well as rivals Google and Microsoft, Burgess said, adding that such outages are usually over in “hours rather than days.”

School bus safety is the focus across Iowa this week

By Pat Powers (Radio Iowa)

This is National School Bus Safety Awareness week. State Trooper Paul Gardner says drivers need to remember the buses are out there every week day through the school year.

“Be aware of how frequent these buses stop. They’re obviously carrying precious cargo, so when you’re having children that have to cross the street to get on or off a bus, we really want to emphasize how important it is to stop,” he says.

Gardner says be aware of the signals the buses are sending. “Amber lights come on warning drivers that they are needing to stop. And once the red lights come on, it is in violation to be passed or go past the school bus. When you have those red lights flashing,” Gardner says.

The Iowa State Patrol does the bus inspections for the state to look for any problems. “Make sure the red lights are working. Any kind of any kind of safety equipment such as first aid kits, fire distinguishers. Also things on the bus such as brakes, tires, anything that would become a safety hazard, we inspect those,” Gardner says.

National School Bus Safety Week is held during the third week of October every year.

OCSD Finance Director Announces Resignation

OSKALOOSA – The Finance Director for the Oskaloosa Community School District announced her resignation yesterday.

Sarah McGriff tendered her resignation effective on November 17, 2025, and in her resignation letter to the district, she cited what she described as “personal vendettas” and a “smear campaign” targeting district superintendent Mike Fisher as reasons behind her decision.

McGriff alleged that three members of the school board “have continued to spread misinformation to damage reputations and erode trust to advance their personal agendas,” and praised superintendent Fisher, calling him a “compassionate, moral, and faith-driven leader.” She went on to reference a state audit that she described as “wasteful” that was conducted “out of spite” by board president Kathy Butler: McGriff wrote that “the board president and her allies” initiated the audit as “a direct attack on the integrity of both Dr. Fisher and me.”

The district’s next school board meeting will be held on October 28.

Oskaloosa City Council Passes First Reading of Alternate Enforcement Action Ordinance

By Sam Parsons

The Oskaloosa city council held a regular meeting last night and passed the first reading of an ordinance for “Alternate Enforcement Action,” allowing city police to issue civil “notices of violation” in place of traditional citations or municipal infractions. The change affects specific minor traffic and municipal violations and enables those who commit the violations to pay a set civil penalty directly to the city. City staff said that the goal behind the change is to streamline enforcement, reduce court caseloads, and offer a more efficient and cost-effective option for addressing minor offenses, and that the model they followed is based on similar ordinances currently in use in several nearby cities, including Ottumwa and Bloomfield. They added that civil penalties being remitted directly to the city rather than through the state court system could potentially increase the city’s general fund revenue.

Notices of Violation may be issued for violations of city ordinances, including but not limited to: minor traffic violations, animal leash law/animal at-large violations, open burning/garbage burning, nuisance animal noise, animal immunization violations, violations of dangerous dog ordinance, and nuisance sound amplification.

The first reading of the ordinance was passed unanimously by the council. Two more readings of the ordinance need to be conducted before it is officially added to the municipal code.

The council also evaluated City Manager Shawn Metcalf’s performance at the 6-month mark of his employment with the city. The council praised Metcalf for following up on promises made during the hiring process and agreed to raise his salary by $5,000 from $165,000 to $170,000.

The next regular meeting for the Oskaloosa city council will be held on November 3.

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